Tulane Defeats ECU in Regular Season Finale, 77-60

Tuesday, March 2

New Orleans, La.

6 PM

Tulane University

16-7,12-6AAC

ECU

8-13,6-10AAC

East Carolina

Tulane

Tulane Defeats ECU in Regular Season Finale, 77-60

Mar 2, 2021 | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score (PDF)

By: Pierce Feltner

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane University women's basketball team defeated East Carolina, 77-60, Tuesday night in the regular season finale at Avron B. Fogelman Arena in the Devlin Fieldhouse.

Tulane (16-7, 12-6) outrebounded East Carolina (8-13, 6-10) 44-32 on the night. The Green Wave shot 54.3 (25-46) percent from the field, 46.7 (7-15) percent from three and 74.1 (20-27) percent from the free throw line, while holding the Pirates to 31.1 (23-74) percent from the field and 18.5 (5-27) percent from three. The Olive and Blue logged 16 assists and 12 steals on the night.

Freshman JerKaila Jordan led the way for the Green Wave with 20 points, four rebounds and three steals. She shot 7-10 from the field and 6-8 from the free throw line. Senior Krystal Freeman added 11 points and 13 rebounds to log the 21^st double-double of her career. Fellow senior Arsula Clark chipped in 13 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals for the Olive and Blue.

"I love the energy we came into the game with," Tulane head coach Lisa Stockton said. "It was probably the worst thing for us to get a really big lead because I think we lost our focus a little bit. I thought everybody came in and gave us great minutes. We subbed kind of early and were able to keep our intensity. That is really what I envision for this team, as we sub, we continue to put the foot on the gas. In the first half, our defensive intensity was as good as it has been all year."

The Green Wave started the game off hot with an 11-2 run. Tulane kept their foot on the gas the whole first quarter and took a 22-8 lead into the second quarter. Seven different players scored for Tulane in the first period.

After the Pirates hit a layup to start the second quarter, Tulane went on an 18-0 run over the next eight minutes to extend the lead to 40-10. The Green Wave held the Pirates to just seven points in the second quarter and grabbed a 43-15 win at the break.

Jordan led all scorers with 13 points in the first half, while Freeman added seven points and seven rebounds. Tulane shot 48.3 (14-29) percent from the floor and 40.0 (4-10) from three in the opening 20 minutes. The Green Wave held ECU without a three in the first half and to just 23.3 (7-30) percent from the field in the first half. Tulane logged 10 assists and nine steals in the first two quarters.

East Carolina opened the second half with 10-0 run to cut Tulane's lead to 43-25. Clark ended the run with two free throws for the Green Wave. The Pirates scored five straight after the Clark free throws, but Jordan responded with six consecutive points of her own to put Tulane up 51-30 with three minutes left in the third. The Pirates closed the third on a 10-3 run. Tulane held a 54-40 lead going into the fourth.

After senior Kaila Anderson hit a three from the top of the key to open the fourth quarter, ECU went on an 11-3 run to cut Tulane's lead to 60-51 with 6:53 left in fourth. Clark put an end to the run by scoring four straight points for the Green Wave. After a three from ECU, the Olive and Blue went on a 7-0 run to extend the lead to 71-54 with 2:25 to play. Tulane was able to hold on and take the 77-60 win.

Anderson tied her career-high with three made 3-pointers on her way to scoring nine points. Senior Sierra Cheatham knocked down two threes of her own and scored eight points for Tulane. The Green Wave outscored ECU 20-10 off the bench, and 34-30 in the paint.

Up next, the Green Wave will head to Fort Worth, Texas, for the American Athletic Conference Tournament in Dickies Arena. Tulane has earned a bye for the first round and will tip-off the tournament on Tuesday, March 9. The Olive and Blue will be the No. 4 seed in the tournament and take on No. 5 seed Temple at 11 a.m. in the quarterfinals a week from today.

FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
For behind-the-scenes coverage, follow Tulane women's basketball (@GreenWaveWBB) on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

WE ARE NOLA BUILT
Tulane University is located in the city of New Orleans. It is a city built on tradition and resiliency. The lessons Green Wave student-athletes have learned through their connection with this university and city have BUILT doctors, lawyers, business leaders, conference champions, all-conference players, All-Americans, professional athletes and NCAA tournament teams. The city of New Orleans has shaped us into who we are today. We are One City. We are Tulane. We are NOLA BUILT. Check out at NolaBuilt.com.